Distribution

CURRENT Range

Loggerhead Shrikes are found across the continent. Shrikes that breed in northern portions of their range — an area stretching from Idaho to the New England States and north into Canada — migrate to southern states and Mexico for the winter. In most areas, they share their wintering range with shrikes that live there year-round. Hotspots for wintering migrant shrikes include coastal areas along the Atlantic Ocean from South Carolina through Georgia, along the Mississippi Alluvial Valley and throughout Texas and Mexico.

HISTORIC Range

It’s not clear how much of North America was occupied by Loggerhead Shrikes before European colonization. At that point, the most suitable habitat would likely have been grasslands and alvars (limestone plains covered by just a thin layer of soil). At the maximum extent, after Europeans settlers converted forests into farmland in the late 1800s, the breeding range extended from the southern portion of most Canadian provinces through the U.S. and most of Mexico.

By the 1950s, however, breeding populations started to decline in the northeast — a trend that had spread across North America by 1960. Today, this species has disappeared from most of the northeasterly portions of its range and is in severe decline in most remaining areas.